Cast: Robert De Niro, Cuba Gooding Jr., Charlize Theron, Aunjanue Ellis, Hal Holbrook, Michael Rapaport, Powers Boothe, David Keith
Director: George Tillman, Jr.
Producers: Bill Badalato, Robert Teitel
Screenplay: Scott Marshall Smith
Cinematography: Anthony B. Richmond
Music: Mark Isham
U.S. Distributor: 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox seems to be placing their Oscar hopes squarely on the shoulders of Men of Honor, a high-profile, politically correct drama about one man's struggle to overcome racism and honor his father. The movie has a promising cast headlined by two Academy Award winners, Robert DeNiro and Cuba Gooding Jr., and the director, George Tillman Jr., has a shiny gold star on his resume for his helming of 1998's Soul Food. The story, at least on a high level, sounds interesting enough: tell the true tale of Carl Brashear, the first black man to join the U.S. Navy's deep sea diving team. Unfortunately, the film runs into serious trouble when Tillman and his screenwriter, Scott Marshall Smith, decide to get heavy-handed. A moderately entertaining movie until the final 20 minutes, Men of Honor falls apart during its last act, when the filmmakers embrace the tactic of overbearing manipulation.
The movie, which has a wraparound plot structure that allows the majority of the story to be told through flashbacks, introduces us to young Carl Brashear (Gooding Jr.) in his hometown of Sonora, Kentucky in 1943. Years later, after hearing the pitch of a recruiter, he joins the U.S. Navy, only to find out that there are three options for a black man: be a cook, become an officer's valet, or get out. But Carl is strong-willed and his talent as the fastest swimmer on the ship garners him a place among the Search & Rescue swimmers. From there, after two long, hard years of work, he becomes the first black man to be accepted into the Navy's diving school. There, in Bayonne, New Jersey, he encounters a man who calls himself God: Master Chief Billy Sunday (Robert DeNiro), a bigot who is determined that Carl fails his class.
Men of Honor tackles military racism during the '50s and '60s in a straightforward manner. Some scenes are probably overplayed, but the technique is effective at underlining the kind of opposition encountered by trailblazers like Carl. And, while the confrontations between Carl and Master Chief Sunday are derivative of those we have seen in countless other movies about military training, the acting by Gooding Jr. and DeNiro is of a high enough caliber that we're able to forget (at least momentarily) that we've seen these scenarios played out numerous times before.
The so-called "men of honor" are, of course, Carl and Master Chief Sunday. The former is a man who promises his father something and is determined to live his entire life focused towards that goal. The latter is an arrogant, insubordinate military figure who must find a way to overcome his inner prejudices in order to change his character and offer support to one who is truly deserving. It should come as no surprise that the two individuals who begin as adversaries end up on the same side. This is, after all, a feel-good motion picture - a label that often places the story in conflict with adjectives like "realistic" and "believable".
The downfall of Men of Honor comes during its latter stages, long after the issue of racism has faded into the background. Without giving things away, I can say that there's a big courtroom scene that left me wanting to gag. Tillman plays every card in the deck trying to wrench the audience's emotions during this sequence, and, as is too often the case, he goes off the deep end, leaving us feeling angry at his inept manipulation rather than fulfilled. The obvious counter-argument to this complaint is that the movie is based on a true story. The key words in that phrase are "based on" - Tillman has taken one man's inspirational tale and overcooked it to the point where it's soggy.
Undoubtedly, Men of Honor's clumsy approach will find its share of supporters, and, to be truthful, there are stretches of the movie (including Carl's struggle to pass his final exam and his underwater encounter with a Russian submarine) when it offers solidly engaging material. But good intentions and a solid thematic foundation aren't enough. This is one motion picture that only puts half of the pieces together.
© 2000 James Berardinelli